B2B marketers are transforming their marketing strategies to keep up with the current economic downturn.
In a bid to keep abreast of the evolving marketing landscape owing to the current crisis, marketers need to take on new strategies. The LinkedIn-Edelman collaborative survey found that 84% of B2B executives believe it is important to lean into their position as trusted thought leaders.
The survey, which is based on 400 B2B executives in the U.S., highlights the state of decision-making– and strategic opportunity in the time where the economy is gradually reviving. Half of the survey respondents said it is essential to redefine company mission and offerings in order to help customers after the pandemic.
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More than half of the respondents have shifted their marketing efforts to focus on existing offerings that are currently important for customers instead of marketing new offers, found the report. Besides conducting thorough monitoring of social media, B2B firms are more involved in gathering feedback from sales teams to better understand their buyers’ customers.
Here are three B2B marketing strategies that can be helpful in current uncertain times.
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Go beyond lead generation
Marketers need to take their B2B marketing efforts beyond lead generation and encompass customer journeys enablement and CRM. It is necessary to shift their mindset from narrowly lead-focused to supporting the full buyer journey.
The pandemic has resulted in a longer sales cycle, thereby leading to rising purchase scrutiny as there are more touch-points during the buyer journey and customer lifecycle. As there is less or almost no face-to-face engagement, each of the touch-points has a new significance.
Furthermore, marketing teams can pursue content creation as it positions them to attribute additional business value to their activities beyond high funnel awareness or standard lead generation.
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Deeper collaboration with sales and marketing teams
Gaining source insights from their sales counterparts will help marketers understand the critical pipeline KPIs, customer journey stages, and touch-points that are challenging.
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Marketers can also focus more on driving content that is tied directly to sales efforts, by garnering new buyers or nurturing existing customers, or generating end of the funnel content to prove value to buyers that are more reserved.
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Prioritize to know more about customers
B2B enterprises with a diverse customer base must understand and tweak their approach to meet various customer challenges. Companies prioritizing segmentation strategies will have an edge over their competitors as the digital landscape is increasing. These strategies will allow a detailed allocation of marketing efforts towards areas with the most significant revenue potential.
Companies need to go for more in-depth primary research in order to distinguish between momentary adaptations and lasting shifts in customer needs and preferences. This will help them to win new customer relationships, build trust, and establish loyalty in the current crisis.
